Jack of Many Trades

X is for Xiphoid

Originally posted: 2013-11-23

So many of my magical tools are xiphoid, I thought this might be a good excuse to talk about magical tools.

What, you don't know what xiphoid means? It comes from the Greek and means "sword-shaped." Between my swords, my spear, knives and wands and even my wife's knitting needles, I think we may have an excess of xiphoid magical objects in the house.

I most certainly consider her knitting needles to be magical objects. She waves them around and turns yarn into socks. That seems pretty magical to me.

Some of my xiphoid tools carry energy because they're well-made. Some have benefited from sheer repetitive use. Some were gifts, like the curved sword my dad gave me when I moved out, the one I'd loved playing with in the attic as a kid. (I sometimes wish I had my old plastic He-Man sword. I played with that for years, I bet it picked up some interesting things.) My favorite is the one I made myself in my blacksmithing class.

Tools are fun. Tools are useful, too, because they store energy - either mine or their own - so that I can get stuff done even if I don't have a ton of my own energy to spare. Tools are awesome, but they should never be mistaken for the work itself. If the tools become a distraction, get rid of the tools.

That's really the entirety of my philosophy of magical tools.